Lighting control systems automate the operation of lighting within a building or residence based upon, for example, preset time schedules and/or occupancy and/or daylight sensing. The Lighting systems typically employ occupancy sensors and/or daylight sensors to determine which lighting devices to activate, deactivate, or adjust the light level of, and when to do so. Occupancy sensors typically sense the presence of one or more persons within a defined area and generate signals indicative of that presence. Daylight sensors typically sense the amount of daylight present within a defined area and generate signals indicative of that amount. Typically, lighting systems receive the sensor signals at a central lighting controller.
The lighting systems are advantageous because they typically reduce energy costs by automatically lowering light levels or turning off devices and appliances when not needed, and they can allow all devices in the system to be controlled from one location.
The above-described lighting systems, however, do not provide specific user control over the lighting devices. Generally, user control of lighting within buildings is limited to physically installed switches. Implementing the user control without physical switches, that is with logical switches that are implemented in software, is difficult because it is a nightmare to associate occupant users with specific lights or lighting fixtures in a logical fashion (that is, on, for example, a web browser or a mobile device). It is very difficult to provide a logical switch (in software) that can determine that the user is physical proximate to one of the lights or light fixtures, and to also authorize the user to have control over the light or light fixture.
It is desirable to have a method, system and apparatus for user control of an environmental parameter of a structure.